I had a SyFy evening last night...first time in a long time. I've been recording Defiance, as intense and well-done as a movie, and last night was no exception. I especially like Jaime Murray's performance as Stahma, so smoothly polite, manipulative, deceitful, treacherous, and, yes, charming. And alien. Most of all, alien. Killjoys and Dark Matter are both caper shows with SF settings, not totally engaging but entertaining enough in their ways. And I watched Dominion for only the second time, the show with angels. I liked seeing Anthony Head in an aggressive role, so different from what he usually plays. But I was surprised to learn that jeans are acceptable angelic garb.

In spite of my initial misgivings, I'm now totally caught up in Defiance. Amanda (Julie Benz) started out as the female lead, but as insidiously as she does everything else, Jaime Murray's Stahma has taken that role for herself. Her first few appearances showed how subservient to her husband Datak their culture required her to be, but the melting-pot population of Defiance opened doors for her she was quick to take advantage of. Her triumph over Datak was sweet, but there's some sort of sick bond that's still holding them together; can't wait to see how that works out..

Anyone here still watching Haven? The show's finale was last night, which wrapped things up beautifully. It was a stroke of genius to bring Shatner into the final season as the Big Bad everyone in town was terrified of. He played the role absolutely straight, no self-parody at all. A satisfying end.

Nothing. This is the SF topic and Haven aired on the SyFy Channel, but it was never science fiction. It dealt with the "paranormal"...our dressed-up word for "supernatural". Ghosts and stuff. Whole different ball game.

Shatner is so well known now that I wonder if it's any longer possible to see him as anyone other than himself, as a character instead of Shatner? I enjoyed his performance as Croatoan in Haven; he did a good job. But I was always aware I was watching Shatner playing Croatoan.

I missed a number of episodes around the middle of the series, but I agree wholeheartedly with Austin that the finale was spot on. After seasons of conflicts that would seem inevitably to head toward one side obliterating the other, the sweet air of reconciliation was as satisfying as it was unexpected. It wasn't all neatly tied up with a pretty bow -- there was loss, there was compromise. But Haven is finally free of the troubles, the townspeople have a future again...and Shatner got the last word. Yes. It was good.

BTW, did you know that when the lost colony of Roanoke Island disappeared, the colonists left the word "Croatoan" behind, carved on a tree?